On our own advise please :)

[WandHinTX]

We'll be visiting St. Thomas with Celebrity in April, and I'm pretty sure the schedule shows we're the only ship in port that day. For those that know, we would love some pointers on our planned activities. Do we have enough time for this, in which order should we go, etc. I'm pretty sure Celebrity docks at Crown Bay, so we're going with that assumption for now. We arrive at 8 am and leave at 5 pm. Any pro/cons to whether we do Mountain Top, Paradise Point, or attempt both? Any advise is appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

Option #1:

Mountain Top (I guess we'll get our souvenirs here)->Drake's Seat (I'm thinking we can take pictures quick enough for our taxi to wait without it getting too expensive)->Magen's Bay (think we can be here by 10-10:30? leave 1-1:30ish?)->lunch (Petite Pump Room or Glady's Cafe)->Paradise Point (how long does the tram take? can/should we take a taxi?)->back to ship

 

Option #2:

Straight to Magen's Bay until noon->lunch (Petite Pump Room or Glady's Cafe)->souvenir shopping either downtown Charlotte Amalie or Havensight-> Paradise Point->back to ship

 

 

Thanks,

Will

[Ms411]

Magens is so beautiful the earlier you get there so I would go with option 2. I like the Petit Pump Room over Gladys because of the view and harbor activities (sea plane and boats).

 

[stuscott]

Contact a tour guide who can do custom tours for you and explain what you want to see and he can give you pricing.  All of this is do-able in one day no problem,  Most of those stops are the normal tour guide stops.  I love Papa Bear www.movemygroup.com or Sunny Liston.  

 

Tram is 15 minutes but wait times can be bad depending on line, afternoon it's quieter but the taxi guy can also drive up the road and take you there quicker and save you the tram fee.  Honestly it's just a nice view and you will have just as nice a view from the downtown overlook on the way to Magens Bay. 

[cruiseapril]

We like to be sure to dry off from Magen's Bay before doing other things.

Have plenty of time to change.

[mets123]

Godfrey tours offer most of this for about Forty dollars each. And you can go on the team as your last stop. He has about an hour of sightseeing, drops you off in town for about two hours of shopping, and then to the beach for about two and a half hours for swimming.

[WandHinTX]

I have found some tours that cover most/all of our list, but my issue is the 2 full hours of shopping. I don't think we need that much time for us to grab the few souvenirs we're going to buy. I kind of think we can organize our time a little more efficiently on our own at this port. Keep the ideas and advice coming though, it's all appreciated!!!

 

Thanks,

Will

[Ms411]

There is more to do in town than shop, but unfortunately that's how most taxi drivers describe their tours. Though many of the town attractions have not reopened after the storm, there are still some attractions.

There are some great photo ops in town. There's a replica of the Liberty Bell in Emancipation Garden. If you walk up Government Hill there's a Danish guard booth where many people take pictures. You can get good views of the harbor from Government Hill, too. If you're a veteran, Veteran's Park is at the bottom of Government Hill if you keep walking east. You can take photos in front of your branch's memorial. Heading back west, you can take photos of the Fort. If you're interested in history, you can walk up Synagogue Hill to the historic house of worship.

 

Heading down Synagogue make the first right and continue down the hill to Main Street. If you're familiar with the Mamas and Papas song Creeques Alley, turn down Trompeter Gade (you'll see signs for Sidewalk Pub) to take a photo.

 

Continue west on Main Street until you get to Royal Dane Mall and turn left down that alley. There are historical plaques on some of the walls that cover some history of the mall. There's also an obelisk with interesting history that makes for an interesting photo.

 

You can also try inexpensive treats at the My Brothers Workshop Cafe which is closer to Govt Hill. They have little drops for .50 each so you can get an assortment. You should ask somebody where it is when you get to the corner of Main Street after coming from the Synagogue.

 

There go your 2 hours!

 

 

 

[MichLeBlanc]

We are also planning to do the same as your Option #2....Head to Magens Bay early, have lunch and then do Paradise Point and back to the ship (Celebrity) at Crown Bay.

 

My main concern right now is the taxi issue is St. Thomas (see other threads on this)....hoping to be able to stick with our plan!!  I really wasn't interested in doing an excursion either because most offered included long times for shopping, which we weren't interest in.  Lets see how this goes...we sail out on April 6

[luckychef]

On 3/18/2019 at 2:07 PM, MichLeBlanc said:

We are also planning to do the same as your Option #2....Head to Magens Bay early, have lunch and then do Paradise Point and back to the ship (Celebrity) at Crown Bay.

 

My main concern right now is the taxi issue is St. Thomas (see other threads on this)....hoping to be able to stick with our plan!!  I really wasn't interested in doing an excursion either because most offered included long times for shopping, which we weren't interest in.  Lets see how this goes...we sail out on April 6

We're heading there next week and I was curious how your trip went & if you had any issues with the taxis? Thanks in advance!

[blue_water]

If you are set on Magens we would suggest going there first thing and enjoying 3 - 4 hours and make a stop at MT on the way back to town or the ship, whatever you decide at that moment. The panoramic view from MT is amazing and you don’t need to stop at Drake’s Seat (that would be a stop on shared tours but I too would not recommend them). You shouldn’t have any problem getting a shared taxi to Magens, one back to MT, and one from there back to the ship. I would not do both MT and PP, not worth the time it takes to taxi to PP from MT...

 

Having said that, we much prefer Sapphire Beach, with a stop at PP after. Magens is beautiful, it just doesn’t have the “character” or views some other beaches offer. But it’s a little longer taxi, and the view from MT is gorgeous!

 

[EDIT] We too like the Petite Pump Room deck for the view of the harbor and seaplanes, but be aware the smell from the ferries can be a bit overwhelming at times. We also like the Greenhouse - good food and a fun spot.

Edited May 12, 2019 by blue_water
Typos

[MichLeBlanc]

23 hours ago, luckychef said:

We're heading there next week and I was curious how your trip went & if you had any issues with the taxis? Thanks in advance!

luckychef....we had an amazing trip!!  St. Thomas was one of the better ports for taxi organizing...it was very, very easy.  Got off the ship, followed the signs to the right for taxis.  There were 2 people directing people for where they wanted to go.  We told them we were looking to go to Magens Bay, he organized our ride...within 5 minutes we were on our way.  We stayed at Magens Bay till around 1h...was also very easy taking the open-air taxi back to the port.  Enjoy your trip!! 😊

[blue_water]

“But it’s a little longer taxi...”

 

Sorry, this was in reference to Sapphire Beach versus Magens from Crown, Sapphire is a little longer taxi ride and ~$11pp each way...